4 ms·
Doctors don’t run ventilators. Respiratory therapists do. A respiratory therapy degree is a 2-year associates degree that includes basic training on physiology
by URSpider94 7y ago
Doctors don’t run ventilators. Respiratory therapists do. A respiratory therapy degree is a 2-year associates degree that includes basic training on physiology and biology. I’m betting that someone with an undergraduate degree in biology could learn the role in a few months of intensive training.
Doctors would still be responsible for reviewing the care protocol and making decisions on treatment, but one doctor could oversee many respiratory therapists, each caring for many patients.
- cycrutchfield 7y agoIt was a tongue-in-cheek comment. The point was that it takes more than a 30 day bootcamp to be more of an asset than a liability in a critical care environment. HN denizens apparently seem to disagree, and believe that if you can learn some JavaScript framework in 30 days you can do anything in 30 days, but the world doesn’t work like that.
- URSpider94 7y agoI think the push-back is that it's not black and white. If we end up in a situation where somehow we get 10x the number of ventilators and staffing becomes the limiting factor, you can bet that hospitals will get creative on how to operate them. You're right, pulling in people off the street is not the place to start (even 1337 Javascript coders). I would think you would start with trained physicians from other disciplines, PA's, NP's, RN's.